Letters: Cruz plays loose with Dr. Seuss

To the editor:

Sen. Ted Cruz’s filibuster was more like a fili-bluster, especially with his comparison of the Affordable Care Act with the Dr. Seuss story, “Green Eggs and Ham.” Sen. Cruz was trying to make the point that Americans do not like green eggs and ham, and they do not like Obamacare, either.

The only problem with his analogy is that the moral of the story was that once people tried green eggs and ham, they did like it. Sen. Cruz obviously missed the point of the story that he cited, which was basically, don’t knock it until you try it.

Folks currently benefiting from the ACA are very happy with it, and after Jan. 1, those who will finally be able to get insurance for the first time will be ecstatic. It boggles the mind as to how someone with degrees from Princeton and Harvard could completely miss the point of a book written for children.

JIM GRAHAM

LAS VEGAS

Majority want Obamacare

To the editor:

In listening to recent congressional debate on whether to shut down the federal government unless Obamacare is defunded, I realized that there is a great divide between the senators in each party as to whether the majority of Americans support Obamacare.

Since both parties believe they’re right — the Republicans think the majority doesn’t support it, and the Democrats believe the majority does support it — why not have a national referendum on this issue.

Oh wait. We did have three national referendums on Obamacare. The first one was the presidential election in 2008, the second was the presidential election in 2012, and the third was the national midterm election in 2010 after Obamacare was passed, in which Democrats kept the majority in the upper chamber.

If the vast majority of Americans didn’t support Obamacare, I believe the Senate majority would be Republican and our president would be either John McCain or Mitt Romney. That didn’t happen. I suppose the Republicans will point to the congressional election of 2010, when they regained control of the House of Representatives and retained that control in the 2012 election, but that was and is not enough to overturn Obamacare. Those were the de facto national referendums on Obamacare, which the majority of Americans support.

I believe there are parts of Obamacare that should either be restructured or eliminated. Rather than shut down the federal government, both parties should support the continuing resolution to keep the government running, then work together to refine and restructure Obamacare to the satisfaction of all — except, of course, the Tea Party faction of the Republican Party. They’ll never agree to any reformation of Obamacare. They just want to take it away from everyone.

DEAN TOMSA

MESQUITE

Special forces

To the editor:

With members of Congress refusing to instill the minimum in gun control, such as smaller weapons, smaller magazines and background checks, it seems they’ve accepted the fact we’re going to have to live with the mass shootings and killings we’re experiencing at schools, shopping malls and workplaces.

With our schools, malls and workplaces having few if any armed guards, why should members of Congress have special security provisions or use of the Secret Service? I request the removal of all the extra security, leaving Congress with few if any armed guards to protect them as they move about.

JERRY STURDIVANT

LAS VEGAS